Stetson912

I lay it flat on my rock(granite tooling slab) dampen the edge and take my canvas wrapped around my finger. Start rubbing the edge with the canvas finger more downward than lateral pressure. Sometimes a bit of an angle helps. Then flip it over and repeat. I do this with my thinner stuff. Seems to work ok for me.

Lots of good advice already. Being new I'm going to say some things that may sound counter intuitive. First, good leather is worth the money! Nstar has good stuff. The banner vendors do too. Cheap leather will really give you issues so don't stinge on leather. (Not that you can't find good leather for cheap either) If you would like to check, makers leather supply (out of Texas, great people) have wickett and Craig leather. Russett, natural tooling, and bridle in a few common weights. They even sell #3 tooling and bridle by the square foot. It is a bit more expensive but, I know for me at least, I can't always afford a whole side. Second, tools are important. Don't skimp here either. I'm not saying you need top line stuff. But, the better your tools the longer they will last and serve you. You only need a few tools to start out too. The main things you'll be doing are cutting, skiving, and stitching. That is every project. A couple good knives to cut and skive and a good set of stitching/pricking irons and a good awl will go a long way. Plastic or rawhide mallet, and maybe a decent hole punch set for snaps and rivets (if you decide to use them). These are the essentials. Finally, just time and practice. Don't rush yourself because you'll make mistakes and be discouraged. But, you also learn from the mistakes you will make, so that's ok too. There are a lot of good folks here willing to help. Never be affraid to ask. You'll find your niche soon enough. Welcome to the world of leather!

That's a lot of leaving. Looks nice to me. Good job

Nice original style choices. I've done a few billfolds myself. They still cause problems for me. Just gotta keep on going lol

These are amazing. I'd like to learn beadwork.

The publications Mike suggested ate 100% worth it. The stitching book will teach you how to stitch anything you need to stitch. And the techniques on the books are invaluable. That said, there are different types of boxes and different construction methods. It depends on what you are trying to achieve and what type of box you want to end up with.

Thanks Mike, if you can do a belt you can do a collar. I'd like to see what you end up making.

Thanks raksha. That's what they wanted. It's nice to be able to knock out an easy simple project sometimes

This I got from Roger at rjf leather. Had it a while. It's thicker than I typically get but good for this application. Might get around to making me a belt. Maybe, depends. I happen to be circumferentially challenged hehe.

The quick stick and stitch is tried and true. It all comes down to the end goal. If it is for utility you want it to be strong. If your dogs are like mine and just loaf around the house licking their bums all day then, well I don't think it matters if it's built like a tank. There are many ways to do it, comes down to how you want it done. And bdaz gives sound advice too. And true, we ain't got no rivers in Tucson (running ones anyhow hehe) even when they do run probably just a creek compared to NC .HAHA!

I agree with Mike. Test it on scrap. Be sure it won't bleed through or stain or something weird. As for lining the way you want to, I would cut the liner wider than the collar. Enough wider that when you turn the edges there is ample room for your stitching to grab.(typically 1/4" to 3/8") should be ok. Also, be sure to skive the edges before you turn them if they are a little thick. Not skiving could make a little bump or ridge down the length of your liner. If you want to get real fancy, you could even pad the collar. Just my thoughts. Finally, this is most important, take pictures and show us what you made hehe. Hope it works well for you.

Here's a simple collar and leash made from 9/10oz European bridle. It's havanna in color (a deep chocolate brown) brass hardware. Collar is 1 3/4" wide and leash is 1" wide. Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think, and critiques always welcome.

Wow, that's some fine work. From the pictures and description it sounds to me like each of the side and bottom edges of each piece of the pockets (8 pieces;4 pockets and 4 liners) and interior and exterior (4pieces; one interior and exterior and 2 liners) is skived extremely thin. To a feather edge I would think. Then you would glue the linings to the pockets interior and exterior and crease them and finish the top edges (with edge paint I'm guessing) then you would stitch it up and finish the stitched edges. The coin pouch looks to be only 6 layers at the edge. So the pieces there would probably not have been skive as thin as the card slot side so that the thickness of both edges would be close to the same. And if you've ever tried hand skiving you will appreciate how well made this wallet is, it's no easy task and I always mess it up somehow. Haha.

like this? It's applique. You punch holes and lace it/ braid it. I can't tell you how to do it though. Sorry :/

I think the issue with the stitches showing like that is the shape of your holes. You will see improvement if you can get round holes. Higher spi will help too (8-9 should be fine). You should be able to stitch just behind the "bead" and not have the stitches be visible unless you really stretch the leather out. Ks blade makes round hole pricking irons in case you were going to search them out. I'm not aware of any others but they could be out there. Maybe you can use a sharp round needle or scratch awl to make your holes as well? I haven't experimented with this personally.

@Dunluce, are you machine stitching or hand stitching?

This isn't a bad idea. I think how you will finish the edges will determine how to proceed. As tugadude said, if you are binding the edges you can probably leave the last 1/2" or so later open flat and skived thin for the binding to go over. Rocky here knows his stuff, his techniques are solid and will work also. If you are using thick leather and burnishing the edges, I wouldn't bother too much with skiving it down. Just edge and burnish. Just my thoughts.

Yeah, looks like a tote with a zipper to me. That "H" pattern is pretty common. The corners would then be boxed and the bag turned. That's how I would do it

Interesting idea. Makes putting on the holster a lot easier

A while ago I made a harness for an Akita. It didn't go so smoothly. It broke twice and wasn't the correct dimensions. But, it taught me a lot. 1. Don't skive the turn where any hardware will be.... And 2. It pays to make a mock up in craft foam to test fit it to the dog. This harness is made from 1" wide 9/10 oz European bridle leather in Havana brown from rjf leather. I used mostly .6mm tiger thread to hand stitch it (fit my 8spi irons better) but I ran out and had to use some .8mm which worked well. The back strap was a problem on the last one. So to fix, I made it tripple thickness. All turns are full thickness and not skived or split. Each chape has a stationary and floating keeper. Let me know what you think. I'll try and get pics on the dog (for a husky this time)

Very nice. That's a lot of stamping. Hand stitched? Ignore my question... It pays to read haha!

The scotch shipping tape is good. I also like using an off cut of Mat board placed under the piece I'm tooling after it has been taped. Works pretty well, and helps add depth to thinner leathers.

Nicely did I like the thread color choice too.

Very nice work! @Handstitched, that little burner is an alcohol lamp. It's used for heating up the creaser before creasing the edge. It helps set the crease nice and crisp. Just a little tid bit if you didn't already know. I thought it was interesting when I learned about it haha.

I not bad. I like it.